Working with PartnerRe, FarmersEdge plans to export its data expertise around the world, “bringing risk management in a way that they’ve never been able to have before.”

This will include places where there was so little data available, Osborne said, that companies “didn’t feel comfortable writing a policy.”

One large-scale farm in Brazil, he said, had not been able to insure its production. “We deployed our system and they were almost immediately able to get insurance.”

Here in Canada, Farmers Edge plans to use its extensive data platform to develop new products to help farmers work with insurance companies faster. “Imagine you had a hail event and you got paid the next day,” Osborne said.

The first step FarmersEdge hopes to take is to enhance data transfer capabilities between farmers and existing insurers. “What we’re working on is trying to make it easier for the farmers to do business.”

Farmers Edge has ambitious future plans in the North American market. “Step no. 2,” Osborne said, “is providing new types of coverage.”

Farmers Edge has grown from two Manitoba agronomists doing precision data work in 2005 to a company with 450 employees operating in five countries around the world.

PartnerRe, meanwhile, provides reinsurance to insurance companies in 150 countries, including specialty weather and credit protection services. The Bermuda-based company is publicly traded and has been in business since 1993.

— Leeann Minogueis the editor of Grainews at Griffin, Sask. Follow her at @GrainMuse on Twitter.